Reiko Van Gelder died on April 1, 2020 after a long battle with Alzheimer’s Disease. Her life was a story of survival, adaptation, and optimism. She was loved deeply by her family. Her story will continue to live on with them and future generations.
Reiko Teshima Van Gelder was born August 28, 1928 on the island of Kyushu, Japan. She lived most of her childhood in northern China, then known as Manchuria. At the close of WW II, her family suffered great hardships before returning to Japan. Her father and sister died of starvation. Back in Japan, her mother and the three remaining daughters struggled to find food, shelter, and employment.
Reiko was working as a telephone operator on a U.S. Army base in Beppu, Japan, when she met her husband-to-be, John, over the phone. He was recovering from injuries received while in combat in Korea and she was his “wake up call” operator. She became a Japanese war bride in 1951, when the U.S. Army allowed its soldiers to marry Japanese civilians. They lived in Nara where their daughter Janet was born but died in infancy in 1952.
(See www.warbrideproject.com and view the interview entitled “Making Herself Clear” about Reiko’s experience as a Japanese war bride.)
Reiko accompanied her husband back to his home town, Bath, New York, in 1953, first via a ship from Japan to Seattle, and then via a Greyhound bus across country to upstate New York. In Bath, they soon discovered she had tuberculosis and that she was pregnant. She spent her pregnancy and the first seven months after the birth of her daughter, Susan, at the TB sanitarium in Mount Morris, New York.
Due to the war and living in Manchuria, Reiko’s formal education was spotty. She learned English by watching American movies. In Bath, she became a clerk at the local five and dime--W. T. Grant’s-- where she was such a novelty that people came to shop just so that they could meet her. She was invited to speak before many community organizations and was treated with respect and kindness. She felt very welcomed in a country that had only recently been at war with her own. She became a U.S. citizen in 1956.
John worked for the Veteran’s Administration and consequently transferred to several different VA hospitals during his career. Wherever they went—Pittsburgh, Syracuse, Danville, Ill, Parsippany, NJ, and finally Augusta, GA--Reiko made good friends and taught them how to prepare delicious Japanese dishes. Everywhere she could, she became involved with the local Japanese communities.
Reiko would be the first to tell you that academics were not her thing, although she highly encouraged her daughter and granddaughters to succeed in school. As a child, recess was her favorite class and any sport that involved a ball was a good one. In her 40’s, she took a tennis class offered by the local high school and the rest was history. She spent the next 25 years playing competitive singles and doubles tennis, accumulating several trophies and awards. She was highly competitive and couldn’t eat or sleep the night before a big match.
As much as she loved sports, the one passion that rose above it was fashion. Without a doubt, she was always the most fashionably dressed wife and mother at any event. Even her teenage granddaughters coveted her designer purses and outfits. In her later retirement years, nothing made her happier than spending a day at the mall, topped off by a stop at T.J. Maxx and DSW Shoe Warehouse.
While living in Augusta, GA, Reiko’s beloved husband, John, died in 2003. A year later, she moved to Northern Virginia to be near her daughter, Susan, and her family. She managed well on her own for many years and made several trips with Susan’s family—Paris, London, Rome, Japan, St. John and Hawaii.
With the onset of dementia, her last few years were difficult for both Reiko and her family. Always very social, she retained her sense of humor. When asked what she wanted for her 90th birthday, she did not hesitate to tell us “a husband.” Reiko also loved to sing. She frequently led anyone who happened to be around her in a rousing rendition of “I’ve Been Working on the Railroad” and “You Are My Sunshine.” And she never failed to say “thank you” to anyone’s gesture of helpfulness, no matter how small.
Her family would like to thank the caregivers and nurses at Falls Church Sunrise Assisted Living for the care and respect they gave Reiko over several years. A family graveside service will be held at a later date.
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